Wrestler Vinesh Phogat broke down in tears and expressed disappointment after some grapplers were allegedly roughed up at the Jantar Mantar protest site by a Delhi Police personnel on late Wednesday night.
Phogat, who has won multiple medals for India in wrestling, expressed her frustration over the situation, saying “did we win medals to see this day?”
The protesters claimed that a drunk police personnel had attacked two wrestlers who were part of the protest, and that his colleagues did nothing to stop him.
Phogat, visibly upset by the incident, accused the personnel of pushing and shoving everyone.
She expressed her outrage at the way the protesters were being treated, stating: “We are not criminals to be treated in this manner.”
Phogat further raised concerns about the lack of female police officers presence at the scene and questioned their absence.
She also recounted her own experience of being “mistreated” by male police officers, claiming that she was subjected to abuse and physical aggression, and asked, “Why weren’t there any women police personnel?”
The alleged brawl between protesting wrestlers and police personnel here at Jantar Mantar is said to have taken place after the police did not allow the grapplers to bring folding beds to the site of protest.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi), Pranav Tayal, said that during the Jantar Mantar protest, Somnath Bharti brought folding beds without permission to the protest site and when intervened, the supporters became aggressive in trying to get the beds out of the truck.
“Subsequently, a minor altercation took place, in which Somnath Bharti, along with two others, was detained,” said the DCP.